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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. game — a match
  5. branch — a division
  6. season — in sport
  7. clip — a video
  8. game — wild animals
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. dip — to sink
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. present — the time now
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. season — of the year
  21. clip — to cut
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. present — there

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com